05 June 2008

of vampires and werewolves...

We have a number of finalist stories this time featuring vampires or werewolves (or vampires AND werewolves). Since they are finalists, they are well-written. Kudos, authors! I must admit however, I am a bit surprised by the influx of vamps and were. Have we published a lot of these stories in the past? No. Have we published ANY of these in Electric Spec? I'm having trouble thinking of any...

Personally, I find the vamp/were thing somewhat mystifying. They are SO popular now, especially in novels. I wonder why that is. Do they symbolize/represent the wild animal/evil inside humans? Or is it something else? What do you guys think?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think vampire and werecreature stories can examine common every day problems at a new level, a more dramatic level. Take Buffy the Vampire Slayer for example. In the early years, it's theme was "High school is hell," and it examined familiar issues like losing one's virginity and peer pressure with a supernatural lens.

Of course, I also think that type of urban fantasy story is just fun. :-)

Good luck making the final selections!

ssas said...

I think it's because they make for "instamatic" world building on the part of the writer and the reader. Most people can spout off five things they know about werewolves or vampires. I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing, either, for the short form.

Yeah, it's a good slate this time.